Tom Donilon, The New US National Security Advisor
Tom Donilon
The US National Security Advisor, James Jones announced his resignation on Friday. President Barack Obama appointed Tom Donilon to take his place.
Jones was for 20 months a Security Adviser and Obama spoke about his accomplishments. One of his major accomplishments is the push for peace in the Middle East. Also, Jones reset the relations with Russia, he dealt with Iran and Al-Qaeda and he winded down the Iraq war. “After years of drift, we have built a broad international coalition to hold Iran accountable, and applied unprecedented pressure through tough new sanctions,” said Obama. “We have renewed the push for peace in the Middle East,” he added.
Tom Donilon served as a deputy of Jones and he was a favorite in replacing him. He worked as a chief of staff to Warren Christopher, secretary of state under Bill Clinton presidency. Donilon prepped Obama on foreign policy during his campaign. “Tom has a wealth of experience that will serve him well in this new assignment. He has served three presidents and been immersed in our national security for decades,” said Obama. “Over the last two years, there is not a single critical national security issue that has not crossed Tom’s desk,” declared Obama.
Donilon is not known for being a strong personality that can put his own stamp on the national security posture. Still, he is recognized for his political skills and the ability to manage teams and implement policies and he will have a big impact for the Obama administration. People know that Donilon is deeply loyal to Obama and also that he can balance the egos and the bureaucratic demands.
Even with the transition, there will not be a dramatic change in the foreign policy, especially in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Obama played a key role in crafting policy because Donilon was involved with the issue at the NSC and because other officials from the Obama administration can overshadow him. “I don’t think he’ll be a [primary] foreign policy-maker in the Middle East because of the greater experience and influence of Secretary of State Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden,” Morris Amitay said, a former executive director of AIPAC. Amitay was in touch with Tom Donilon during his time in the Clinton administration. He said that he does not feel “any strong feelings one way or the other” when it came to dealing with Israel.
The vision on Donilon is well seen. Aaron David Miller said that the Security Adviser is well-steeped in the conflict in Middle East and Donilon will have no trouble in taking his role seriously. “He’s about as sensitive to the realities of those politics as anyone I know. I think it will be seamless,” said Miller. “Donilon probably has more experience with the Arab-Israeli conflict, with the exception of Dennis Ross, than anyone else in the White House”. Miller worked with Donilon at the State Department. Miller describes Donilon as “a pragmatist”. “He’s much attuned to the issue of success and failure,” says Miller. “He understands when an issue is hard and he understands creating a process and keeping one [moving] along, and on the other hand pushing it to a point where it collapses,” he continued.
There are several White House aides that left before the midterm elections and it seems like Jones is a part of that long list. It is a traditional turnover in many administrations. Also, Donilon was said to replace the White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, who left recently to run for mayor of Chicago.
